Electrolytic apparatus



W. E. GREENAWALT.

ELECTROLYTIC APPARATUS.

APPLICATION man FEB. 1. 19H.

I N VENTQR.

Hlt?,

W. E. GREENAWALT. ELECTHOL'YTIG APPARATUS,

APPLlCATmN FILED FEB. l. 19|?.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

WILLIAM E. GREENAWALT, or DENVER, COLORADO.

`catanese Application med February 1, 1917.

To allvwhom i?? may concern:

'Be it' known that I, VILLIAM E. GREENA- wAL'r, a citizen of the United States, resid- Specification of Letters Patent.

ing in they city and county of. Denver and.

State of Colorado, have invented certain new and useful Improvements. in Electrolytic Apparatus, of whichthe following is a'specication.

Thefelectrolysis of liquids having a gas in solution has always given a great deal of trouble because the solubility of any gas in a liquid is necessarily greatest difficulty so far encountered has been to keep the liquid charged with the gas 'during electrolysis, so that the gas would bev taken up' in solution by the liquid as rapidly as the gas in the liquid is consumed,

- contact is only momentar y, -could reasonably be:

fixed, or chemically combined with the liquid by the electrolytic action.

The object of my invention is to make it technically practical to charge a liquid with a gas during electrolysis and maintain it charged as rapidly as the gas in the liquid is acted u on bythe electric current. A further obJect of Amy inventionis to make it very small, andl the commercially feasible to produce an acid by combining electrolysis.

-Frequent attempts have been made, for example, to produce sulfuric acid ldirect from sulfur dioxid by combining itywith Water, by means of electrolysis, but all these processes have failed of practical results largely, or entirely, because the gas could a gas With a liquid by means of not be charged into the liquidas rapidly as the gas dissolved in the liquid was combined with the liquid to form acid. The solubility of any gas in a liquid, especially sulfur dioXid, is necessarily small. If the gas is bubbled into the liquid, during electrolysis, the

, and the conditions for absorption are about as bad as they.

usually wasted and the made unbearableQ l y 'If the gas is dissolved in the liquid in a scrubbing tower, which is the usual method cell room is usually of procedure, not enough .gas can be abi sorbed to make the electrolysis effective, for, unless the gas is brought in contact With-the electrodes in sufficient amounts, the process will be hlghly inefficient, and,

a few minutes contact with the electrodes,

-even with agitation, the operation becomes impractical.

besides, the gas is.

at best, after 7 Acell room unbearable. having once been established as the most efring to the accompanying to contain a liquid and to coni-lne a gas The Adisks are ELECTROLYTIC APPARATUS.

Patented J u ly 20,1920. Serial No. 145,884.

In my invention, the diii'iculties enumer- Not only is the gas brought 1n 1ntion, super-saturation, or emulsion, without any waste of gas, or without making the A current density ficient for the solubility of any particular gas in a liquid, this current density' can alw-ays be maintained, because the conditions for maximum efiiciency can always be maintained. The electrolyte need never become impoverished for the want of gas.

My invention is best described by referdrawings, in which Figure 1 shows a general longitudinal section: Fig. 2, a detail cross section: Fig. 3, a detail longitudinal section: Fig. 4, a detail plan: Figs. 5 and 6, details of the electrical connections and insulations between electrodes and conducting bars of opposite polarity: Fig. 7, a detail of the disks:

Figs. 8 and 9, a cross section and longitudinal section, respectively, of a detail of the shaft: Fig. 10, a longitudinal section of a modified apparatus: Fig. 11, a detail cross section of Fig. 10: Fig. 12, a detail longitudinal' senion of Fig. 10: and Figs. 13 and 14, a detail cross section and longitudinal section, respectively, of the shaft in Fig. 10. eferring to the accompanying drawings, l shows an electrolytic chamber adapted over the liquid. 2 is a gas generator, communicating With the4 electrolytic chamber 1, by

means of the pipe 3.

chamber .are located the either of which may be anodes and either cathodes. Above the electrodes is a shaft 6, on which .are mounted disks 7, and which In the elcctrolytic electrodes 4 and 5,

rotates in the bearings 8, when driven by the motor- 11. The electrodes are submerged in liquid, and part of the disks are submerged in the liquid and part immersed in the gas over the liquid.

fixed on the shaft by collars 9) fitting between the disks and the Washers 13, and maintained tight by the nut 14. The collars 12, and the washersl, are made of some material unaffected 12, (Figs. 8 and thegliquid, pr-ef- ,th rough the 'all erably a non-conductor of the electric current, so that the shaft is unatlected by any` The ldisks are 4 rlhe electric current is supplied to the electrodes by nieansof the terminals 33 and 34, and the bars 15 and 1G in the bottom of the tank, and electrical connection is made. with the electrodes by letting the electrodes' rest onthese conducting bars.- rlhe electrodes are held in position by the side pieces 17, ivhich may be of ivbod, and having saW- cuts 18, or grooves, to receive the ends of the electrodes. The arrangement and insulation ot' the electrodes is shown in detail in Figs. :2, 3, s, 5, and 6. One end et the electrode rests on its corresponding conducting bai', say, 15, While the other end rests on an insulation plate,preierably of hard rubber, 1l), and this plate, in turn, rests on the opposite conducting bar. Referring to F 5 and 6, :tor example, the electrode l rests on the conducting bar 16, while the opposite end rests on the insulation plate 19, which, in turn, rests on the bar 15. The electrodes 5 rest on bar 15, but are insulated from bai' 1G by the plates 20. A current, therefore, entering through the bar 1G would pass to the electrode 4f, and being insulated from bar v 15, wouldv pass through the liquid from electrode l to electrode 5, and then to the bar on 'which 5 rests directly,l but is insulated from 1G,

lt is preferred to arrange the cells so that the gas will pass Atroni one cell to the next while the liquid (lows in the opposite direction. The tloiv ot"gas, mt`or example, would be from the gas generatorna` through the pipe 3 into cell 1 then through the pipe 22 into cell 2l., and so on until it is suilii'riently impoverished: the liquid, flowing in the opposite direction, would tlow from cell 21 through the pipe 23 into cell 1 and out through pipe 24. lt, in addition to passing the gas over the liquid, it is desired to pass it liquid, itis exhausted from the top-off'. the chamber through the pipe :25,

sind by means ot the blower 2G forced into the pipe 2i', intothe distributing pipes 9,8

and into the liquid to pass up through the liipiid and agitate it.

lhe detail ot thc disk is shown in Fig. lt is preferably made with small holes 30, and sei'rations 3l, so that as the disk rotates some of the liquid is more readily elevated into the gas above' and some oi the gas submerged in the liquid.` The spraying ot the liquid into the gas is also facilitated by the holes and serrations. lf desired, groove-s '32, may also be made on the face ot' the disks toiassist in intimately mixing the gas and liquid.

Referring to the modified apparatus, as shown in Figs. 1 0 to 111 inclusive, it will be seen that'one set oi electrodes are fixed, as in Fig. 1, While the rotating disks are the oppositeelectrodes'. The electric currentis supplied to the disks .through t-l'z'" shaft .6, which, when large currents are to oe used,

may be made holloiv'and-an electrical con-r ductor, such as a round copper bar, fitted tightly in thehol'loiv shaft. rlhe current is supplied lto the shaft by means of a mercury contact as shoivnat 4:0. The disks rotate between -the stationary electrodes, and are lpreferably made of hard lead, and having proper electrical connections with the shatt..

iron containing a large percentage of ferrosilicon to make it acid prooi', although it could also be ni'ade or' hard rubber.l Outside of the collars is a rubber insulation covering, which may be made of hard rubber piping, cut to lit between the Washers 13.

The electric current, entering-the shaft at 110, is distributed to the if'arious disks,

disks the current passes through the liquid ani causes the desired electrolytic action, passes to the electrodes ll, to the conducting bars' 15, and oiit'through the terminal S3. Both terminals, in this case, are of the saine polarity.

Referring, now, more particularly to Figs,

1 to Sl inclusive, and having in i'nind the elec-1 trolysis of copper sullate solutions obtained from leaching-ores, and containing` more or less iron, the operation ot' the apparatus may be described as follows: lt is assumed that there are a number of cells in series, and that the copper solution tobe electiolyzed is introduced into thev last cell ol" the series,

and the gas, which we will assuino as sulfur dioxid, is introduced into the first cell oi" thc series. rThere are three essential conditions,y or objects, to be kept in View in the elec. trolysis ol iinpui'ecopper solutions, under:L

' Which are all the time rotating; from the f ile these conditions: viz: thedeposition oi" the copper; the regeneration of the acid: the maintaining oi the iron in the ferrous condition by means'of the reducing action of the sulfur dioxid. copper solutions containing iron, the iron is converted into the ferrie condition by thc oxidizing action of the oxygen released at the anode, and if the ferrie iion is allowed to accumulate in the electrolyte, eliicient deposition is impossible because the ferrie iron is reduced at the expense of the deposited copper. i

In the electrolysis of' The temperature of the electrolyte is not vso important as under ordinary condition;

the solubility of the is not so material. In the electrolysis ot' sulfur dioxid to produce sulfuric acid,the temperature et the liquid was kept very low to get a reasonable solubility ot' the gas in the electrolyte.

ln my apparatus this is not .necessary l'orv may be produced. by a suction .tan in the last cell of the series (not shown) by any oi the well known methods.

I claim: Lln electrolytic apparatus, a chamber having a' gas inlet and a gas outlet and adapted to contain a liquid and to conline a gas over the liquid` stationary electrode plates submerged in the liquid, a shai't located above the stationary electrode plates and above the liquid, disks mounted on the shaft dipping into the liquid and immersed in the gas over the liquid, means t'or rotating the dislr's with suliicient rapidity to spray the liquid into the gas above it, and means ior passing an electric current through the electrodes and liquid charged with the gas. 2. lli-apparatus for subjecting a liquid and a gas to the action of an electric current, a lower section adapted to contain the liquid and the electrodes, a removable upper'section engaging the lower section and forming therewith a sealed chamber,` means tor introducing a gas into the upper section, means for charging the liquid in the lower section with the gas coniined in the upper section, and electrical means for causing a chemical reaction between the gas and Vthe liquid.v

3. ln apparatus for subjecting al liquid and a gas to the action oi an electric current, a lower section adapted to contain the liquid and the electrodes` a removable upperv seetion engaging the. lower section and forming therewith a sealed chamber, means for introducing a liquid in the lower section, means it'or introducing a gas in the upper section, rotary means` within the chamber for charging the liquid in thelower section with the gas in the upper section, and electrical means i'or causing a chemical riaction between the liquidand the gas.l

4. ln chuftrolytie iqiparatus, a chamber having ay gas inlet and a gas outlet and adapted to contain a liquid and to confine a gas over the liquid, electrodes within said chaniber, spraying means arranged to spray the liquid into the gas over the liquid and transversely to the flow of the gas, means for causing a liow oi' gas transversely to the liquid sprays-and means forpassing an electric current through the liquid.

in apparatus for subjecting liquid and a gas' to the action of an electric current, a lower section adapted to contain the liquid and the. electrodes, a removable'uppersection engaging the lower section and forming i therewith a sea led el'iainber, means for EGW- ing a stream ot liquid through the lower seta tion, means for iiowing a stream of `gas through the upper section, means for charging the liquid with the gas confined over it, and electrical means for causing a chemical reaction between the liquid and the gas.

G. ln electrolytie apparatus a chamber adapted to contain a liquid and-to Confine a gas over the liquid, means -within said chain ber tor charging the liquid with the gas over it, means within the said chamber for ing the liquid, electrodes submerged in the liquid haring one end resting on a conducting bar submerged in the liquid find in electrical contact while the other end or the electrodes is electrically insulated, and means lor passing an electric current through the electrodes and through the liquid charged with the gas. v

T. :in electrolytic apparatus having vertical electrodes, means above the electrodes for agitating" the electrolyte,

8. ln elecl'rolytic apparatus a stationary chamber adapted to contain a liquid and to conliue a gas over the liquid, a rotatably mounted shaft within said chamber, sprajl,7A ing means partially immersed in the gas and partially submerged in the liquid mounted on said shaft, means ior protecting the shaft trom lthe corrosive action ol the liquid and the gas. means `tor electrically insulating the shatt from the electrodes, and means Afor passing an electric current through the liquid.

Sl. ln electrolytic having a gas inlet adapted to contain a liquid and to confine a gas over the liquid, means ior fiowing a gas from the gas inlet to the gasl outlet, means for taking the gas from above the liquid and forcing it through the liquid, and means ter passing an electric current through the liquid.

lll. ln electrolytic apparatus, a chamber adapted to contain a liquid and to confine a gas over the liquid, conducting bars su a pparatus, a cha mher e3 merged inl the liquid,electrodes resting on said conducting bars, means independent ot' the electrical conducting bars tor 'maintain ing the electrodes in'position, 1 eens for 'electrically insulatingr the electrodes ot one polarity f rom those ofthe opposite polarity, and means for passing an elect-ic current to the conducting barsand electrodes and through the liquid.

l1. ln electrolytic apparatus, electrodes restingr on submerged conducting bars of both polarities in the electrolyte, means ior electrically insulating the electrodes ol' one and a gas outlet and' lli) -for passing an electric current the electrodes, means for passing an electric I current through the liquid charged with the suli'ur dioxid whereby the sulfur dioxid is converted into sulfuric acid, and means for supplying sulfur dioxid to the space above the liquid as rapidly as the sulfur' dioxid in the liquid is converted into 4sulfurie acid.

13. In electrolytic apparatus, achamber adapted to contain a liquid and to confine a gas over the liquid, means within said chamber forcharging the liquid with the gas over it, means within said chamber for agitating the liquid, and means for replenishing the gas above the liquid as rapidly as the gas is charged into the liquid, and means through the., liquid.

14. In electroly'tic apparatus, a chamber adapted to contain a liquid and to conine'a gas over the liquid, means located wholly above the electrodes for charging the liquid with the gas over it. y

15. In electrolytic apparatus, a chamber adapted to contain a liquid and to confine a gas overv the liquid, means for spraying the liquid transversely of the chamber, and means `yfor causing a flow of gas longitudinally with the chamber.

16. In apparatus for subjecting a liquid and a gas to the action of an electric current, a lower section adapted to contain the liquid and the electrodes, a removable upper section engaging the lower section and forming therewith a sealed chamber, means for introducing' a liquid in the lower section, means for introducing a gas in the upper section, means for intimately mixingthe liquid with the gas confined ove/r it, and means for passing an i electric current through the electrodes,

17. In electrolytic apparatus, a Istationary chamber adapted to contain a liquid in the lower portion and to confine a gas in the upper portion, a hollow shaft? rotatably mountedA having spraying means within the chamber, an electrical conductor within the .hollow shaft, and means for passing an electric current through the liquid.l

18. ln apparatus for subjecting a liquid and a gas to the action of an electric current, a lower section adapted to contain the liquid and the electrodes, a removable up-v per section engaging the lower Sectlon and forming therewith a sealed chamber, means for introducing a gas in the upper section, means for causing a flow of liquid through the lower section transversely of the 'electrodes, means for charging the liquid in the lower' section with the gas confined in the upper section, and electrical means for causing a chemical reaction between the liquid and the gas.

19. In electrolytic apparatus stationary vertical electrodes resting on electrical conductors submerged in the electrolyte.

20. In electrolytic apparatus electrodes of both polarities resting on electrical conductors submerged in the electrolyte.

21. In electrolytic apparatus means for confining a gas over the electrolyte, and means above the electrodes for spraying the electrolyte into the gas.

22. In electrolytic apparatus having a gas confined over the electrolyte, means for spraying the electrolyte into the gas, and means for yagitating. the electrolyte with the gas.

23. In electrolytic apparatus having sulfur dioxid confined over the electrolyte means for agitating the electrolyte with sulfur dioxid.

24. In electrolytic apparatus stationary vertical electrodes resting o n electrical conductors submerged in the electrolyte and spacing pieces for maintaining the electrodes in position.

25. In'electrolytic apparatus having a gas confined over the electrolyte, means-for agitating the electrolyte with the gas.

26. In apparatus for subjecting a liquid and a gas to the action of an electric current, a lower section containing the liquid and the electrodes, a removable upper section engaging the lower section and forming therewith a sealedchamber, means for introducing a gas into the upper section, means for spraying the liquid in the lower section into the gas in the upper section, and means for passing an electric current through the electrodes. f

27. In apparatus for subjecting a liquid and gas to the action of an electric current, a lower section containing the liquid and the electrodes, a removable upper section engaging the lower section and forming therewith a sealed chamber, means for introducing a gas into the upper section, means for treating the li uid in vthe lower section with the gas in the upper section, and means for passing an electric current through the electrodes. 1

2 8. In electrolytic apparatus for subjecting a liquid and a gas to the action of an electric current, a lower section adapted to contain the liquid and the electrodes, a removable upper sectiony engagin the lower section and forming therewit4 a sealed chamber, means arranged for resting the electrodes on electrical conductors submerged 1n the electrolyte, means for introduclng a gas into the upper section, means for introducing a liquid in the lower section,

means for treating the. liquid in the lower section with the gas in the upper section, and electrical means for causing a chemical reaction between the liquid and the gas.

29. In electrolytic apparatus havingr insoluble anodes, removable stationary vertical electrodes restinon electrical conductors submerged in the electrolyte and makl ing electrical contact therewith.

30. In electrolytic apparatus, a tank adapted to contain the electrolyte, an electrical conductor submerlred in the electrolyte, stationary removable electrodes rest'- ing on the electrical conductor` and making ljelectrical contact therewith, and means/for Lampes passing an electric current through the conn 'ductor and the electrodes. u v

3l.In electrolytic apparatus a chamber adapted to contain a pool of liquid and 'to confine a gas over the liquid and having a gas inlet and a gas outlet and a liquid inlet and a liquid outlet, means for causing a flow of gas through the chamber, means Within the chamber for mixing the liquid and the gas, means for agitating the liquid with thev gas by withdrawing the gasrom the upper portion of'the chamber and in troducing` it into the liquid in the 'lower portion, and means for electrolyzing "the liquid.

' NILLAM E. GRENAWAL. `Witnesses RUTH CoLE, l

Cona M. GREENAWALT. 

